Tuesday 29 April 2014

Jasper Who Bothered No One




There was once a boy unknown to most, for he lived his life quietly and bothered no one. This boy was called Jasper, who gave him the name he can't quite remember but he was fond of it all the same. Jasper spent many a day lost in thought enjoying the pleasures of his wandering mind.
There are many places beloved of the quiet and ponderous, armchairs by a glowing hearth, cool grassy banks along a babbling brook and even the hollows of old tree trunks. For Jasper, there was nothing quite so thrilling as the ancient magic of large, dark caves. One never knew what one may find, crossing the threshold of bright day into the ever growing gloom ahead.



There was a cave that Jasper had once, a long time ago, heard mention of, a place of deep magic, where tiny blue dots of light glow upon the ceiling like so many stars. The stories were no exaggeration, for when Jasper walked into the dark cavern he gasped at the galaxy of phosphorescence above his head, he seemed to marvel forever and a day until he had his fill of this natural wonder, though who could ever really have their fill of such a sight.



From the corner of his eyes, Jasper noticed an unearthly green glow emanating from what seemed to be the very back of the cave. He followed it deeper and deeper still, until all at once it disappeared entirely and our quiet boy was left alone, enveloped in pitch blackness. Turning around and around he strained his eyes but could no longer detect a glow from anywhere at all, after many an hour of feeling about and searching for tunnels, Jasper tired and hungry, sat down and took out the chocolate that rested at the bottom of his coat pocket. "Ah, well" thought Jasper "Someone will come looking for me soon." But, as Jasper spent his life bothering no one, no one bothered Jasper...


Fear not dear reader, for someone did indeed find Jasper, it was the Ghastly Governessa and she spirited him off to join the rest of her brood under the Old Willow tree, though between you and I, I suspect that Jasper would have rather remained in the cave to dream.


3 comments:

JJ said...

All your little ones are delightful, Mel, but the rare boy little ones have a wistful melancholy about them which is particularly engaging. Little Norbyrt remains the most memorable of all, and the pebble was a matter of genius, but Jasper is cast in a similar mold.

Anthropomorphica said...

Thank you Jeff. I had a strange feeling you might connect with Jasper so I'm glad you did. There's another boy with a tale coming soon, though he's of a different ilk...

JJ said...

I tried to make another comment, but the robot letters were malfunctioning so Google wouldn't let me. It went along the lines of:

The phrase '... so nobody bothered Jasper' has been haunting me. It was partly sympathy for poor little J, but also the fact that I've often thought that I could die in a wood somewhere and a dog would find the skeleton in about ten years time.

Happy Beltane, Mel. Just got in from my fire. It was a good one this year. Will be posting about it shortly.